


Heartbeat

by baranduin



Category: Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-14
Updated: 2010-01-14
Packaged: 2017-10-06 06:35:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/50737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baranduin/pseuds/baranduin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Song lyrics can stick in your mind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heartbeat

**Author's Note:**

> Quoted lyrics copyrighted by Buddy Holly.

Jack Twist had a transistor radio with him up on Brokeback Mountain that summer. It was a Magnavox AM-80, and it came with a turquoise-colored carry case that was cracked in one place. What looked like fine mesh covered its small speaker, not that the damned thing did him much good up there. He mostly got static when he turned it on, but every now and then he'd lock onto a station for a few minutes and then he'd get real still while he listened with a goofy smile lighting up his face.

"Where'd you get that thing anyway? Ain't got enough money a get something like that," Ennis said one night while they sat by the fire and passed the whiskey bottle. They'd managed to listen to one complete song before the station drifted away, though the reception was so scratchy it was hard to catch many of the words. Good thing the lyrics were simple and repetitive; as a matter of fact, they sort of wormed their way into Ennis' memory that night and he discovered later that it was darned near useless to try to get them out.

_ Heartbeat, why do you miss when my baby kisses me?_

"You steal it?" Ennis asked, unable to resist the dig.

Jack turned the dial to 'off' with his thumb and set the tranny down on the ground with loving care, then sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees and grinning. "Shit, no." Ennis raised one eyebrow, disbelief clear in that economical movement. "Won it off this guy one night in Lubbock, playin' five card stud. Oh, that was a lucky bet." Jack stroked the radio with his knuckles, and Ennis snorted.

"How so? Ain't doin' you any good here."

"Man, you just do not have an appreciation of the finer things in life."

"No? And I reckon you're the scraggly-assed s.o.b to teach me?"

"Yep. C'mere."

There was no more talk that night of transistor radios, lucky bets, or what exactly constituted the finer things in life. However, there were plenty of grunts and moans and even the occasional triumphant howl that drifted out of their little tent, and there was absolutely no suggestion that one was teaching the other what it meant to make love. Well, they both would have that denied that last bit even to their innermost selves, but they did know they were trail breaking without the roughest map to guide them, no doubt about that.

* * *

The Blue Moon Diner was crowded, but there were one or two booths and tables still available. It wasn't much of a place to take your pregnant wife for her birthday, but when you didn't have enough money to see the inside of a restaurant from one season to the next, even a commonplace diner by the side of U.S. Highway 26 looked pretty special.

"Got a quarter to spare, sweetheart?" Alma asked as they stood in the doorway scoping things out. The jukebox was playing something twangy by Conway Twitty.

"I might," Ennis said with a smile wide enough to crinkle the corners of his eyes. He dug around in his jeans pocket and came up with the goods, holding the shining silver coin on his palm for Alma to take. He chose a booth and slid onto the shiny naughahyde seat while Alma made her way to the jukebox. She waddled a bit these days and usually kept one hand pressed to the small of her back when upright. She told Ennis it sort of helped to prop her up, that it eased the constant ache in her back somewhat. When she got to the jukebox, she leaned against it with her other hand while she made her selection. Ennis couldn't see her face, but he knew exactly what expression was on it. There was a furrow on her brow and that was from concentration, not the irritation of the last days of pregnancy. Ennis figured she also had her tongue sticking out a bit at the corner of her mouth; she usually did that when she was thinking about something, trying to make up her mind.

After Alma slipped the quarter into the coin slot and punched the right combination of plastic buttons, she turned around and waddled over to their table.

"A booth, Ennis? How am I supposed to fit?"

Ennis pulled the table close to his flat belly. "There you go. Think that'll do ya?"

"I reckon." Alma wedged herself in and laughed. "Oh, he's restless tonight!" She placed her hands across stomach. "Maybe he can smell the good food."

They smiled at each other and then looked through the menu while Conway finished up and was followed by a sad Roy Orbison aria.

"You didn't choose that one, did you?"

"Naw ... isn't the menu pretty?"

Ennis grunted. Well, the cover was kinda pretty at that, with the round moon drawn in a sort of light blue looking down on a landscape, just a simple hill with a few trees.

"What looks good to you?" Alma asked after Roy finished his lament. There was silence for a bit while the jukebox machinery slid along its track and set the next record into place. "That open-faced turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy looks good. You sure we can afford it?"

_ Heartbeat, why do you miss when my baby kisses me?_

Ennis started to say, "Sure we can," but when Buddy Holly's sweet voice started singing and Ennis could hear all the lyrics clear as anything, he found he'd lost his own voice. So he just nodded at Alma, nodded hard.

She smiled. "Ennis, you know what you want?"

_ Heartbeat, why does a love kiss stay in my memory?_

Ennis looked out the window at the highway and blinked. There were a few cars coming down the road, their headlights growing brighter and brighter the closer they came.

"You all right?" Alma leaned across the table, not that she could lean very far with her belly in the way.

Ennis turned back to Alma. "Just somethin' got in my eye for a minute," he said, his voice gentle and soft. "Let's order. I'm hungry."

 

_Heartbeat, why do you skip when my baby's lips meet mine?  
Hearbeat, why do you flip, then give me a skipbeat sign?  
Riddledee pat, and I sing to my love's story,  
And bring to me love's glory.  
Heartbeat, why do you miss when my baby kisses me?_


End file.
